For years pairs of skis have been held together to facilitate carrying and storage by what are commonly termed rubbers. These rubbers comprise a pair of elastic rubber straps which fit about the toe and tail portion of the skis each having a metal loop at one end and a metal hook configuration at the other. The metal hook fits about the side of one of the skis extending over both the upper and lower edges thereof and the strap is extended about the skis with the loop at the extended end being placed over an external flange extending outwardly from the metal hook thereby securing the skis together with the bases thereof facing each other.
While a pair of rubbers will hold a pair of skis together, there are several problems associated both with their construction and use. Firstly, because they are constructed of rubber they are subject to rapid deterioration. This problem is particularly acute when they are used in areas having a high ozone level in the air as the ozone rapidly deteriorates rubber products, particularly when the rubber is in an extended or stretched disposition as is the case with rubber straps disposed about a pair of skis.
In addition to the short life of the rubber straps, they also constitute a substantial safety hazard to the skier as they are commonly carried on the skier's person while he is skiiing and the metal hooks at the ends of the straps can easily bruise or cut the skier or rip his clothing should he fall and land thereon. It would therefore be highly desirable to provide an adjustable strap which could hold one's skis together to facilitate carrying and storage but which need not be carried on the skier's person and additionally eliminates the need for a metal hook or other rigid protrusion so as not to constitute a safety hazard.
A further problem associated with the rubber strap is encountered while carrying a pair of skis secured together thereby. Because the straps join the skis together at the toe and tail portions of the skis, the skis due to the camber therein are bowed and consequently spaced apart at the centers which is the point along the skis by which they are commonly carried. Consequently persons carrying a pair of skis held together in this fashion frequently pinch their hands between the sharp metal edges along the base of the skis causing painful scrapes, cuts and blisters. This problem cannot be avoided by changing the placement of the rubbers as the rubbers are not adaptable to draw the skis together at the bowed center portions due to the construction of the hook assembly which is so designed as to fit about the shallower toe and tail portions of a ski.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a durable strap for holding a pair of skis together which not only avoids the hazards created by the sharp protuberances commonly found on rubbers, but one which is also adaptable for use at the center of the skis to draw the metal edges of the skis tightly together to prevent any injury which otherwise might be caused thereby as well as to protect the edges from external contact which may cause a dulling of the skis' edges and a corresponding loss in performance.